KPN upped at Merrill on consolidation in Netherlands

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LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Merrill Lynch upgraded Dutch telecoms operator KPN
KPN, +1.21%KPN, +1.38%
to buy from neutral and added it to its Europe 1 focus list, saying the consolidation of the Dutch mobile market following T-Mobile's acquisition of Orange Netherlands could potentially allow KPN to increase domestic mobile margins to 45% versus forecasts of 41%. In addition, the broker told clients that as mobile prices fall in Germany, the telecoms market there could see a transfer of 4 billion to 6 billion euros of revenue from fixed to mobile players, which should benefit KPN's E-Plus mobile business.

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